Why do people do this, highway driving edition

Post date: 2021-10-19 13:28:53

I was driving home this evening and not in a terrific mood for a variety of reasons. I was on a three-lane highway, in the middle lane. The pickup truck in front of me, also in the middle lane, was going 70 (in a 65); I wanted to go 72. No traffic in the left lane, the entire freeway was relatively clear. I got over to the left lane and the pickup truck immediately sped up. I could literally hear their engine roar as they floored it. OK, I thought, and went a little faster. They kept going faster. This continued until we were both going over 80 mph, at which point I realized what an idiot I was being and gave up. Got back behind them, they dropped back down to 70.

What is the psychology of this maneuver? It's happened to me a few other times this year, this just happened the most dramatic instance of it. I drive a small, fuel-efficient car, but I have obvious political allegiance beyond that (no bumper stickers). The truck this time was clearly a well-maintained work truck of some sort. Because of the sun glare, I doubt they could see much about me, the driver, ie that I'm female, a certain type of person they hate, etc. Is it someone just taking out their idle sociopathy on the road?

This definitely seems to be happening to me more in the last couple of years. Before that, it was a very rare occurrence. Does anyone else experience this regularly, or ever?

And more importantly, any tips for not getting sucked into the idiot game the next time this happens?

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